Friday, April 19, 2019

When a team wins the first four games of a playoff series they are said to have swept the series and their opponent. When the victor does so NEVER trailing in any of the four games, they have completed the rare feat of a PERFECT sweep.

The Montreal Canadiens lead the league with six perfect sweeps and are the only team to do it twice in a single postseason. That happened in 1960 when Montreal annihilated both the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafsen route to their fifth straight Stanley Cup championship. Chicago, on the other hand, owns the honor of being on the losing end of a perfect sweep four times, leading all teams in this category.

Breaking it down by round, the most annihilations have happened in the Quarterfinal (7), followed by the Semifinal (5), Preliminary (4) and Final (2). The last team to be so swept in the Cup Final was the Toronto Maple Leafs 55 years ago, adding to their dreary postseason history.Of the two sweeps thus far in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Columbus over Tampa Bay, New York Islander over Pittsburgh), both victims managed to hold a goal lead at some point during a game of the series avoiding the distinction of making this historic list. Pittsburgh narrowly escaped this honor, leading their series for only 3 minutes and 41 seconds thanks to opening goals in games 2, 3 and 4 from Gudbranson, Wilson and Guentzal.Beware of the brooms. But avoid annihilation at all costs.* See also NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Sweeps.